Purveyor of Awesitude

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I Call Bullshit

I saw this on Pinterest today and at first glance was all yeah, that’s cool. But then I did a kind of double take and feel that Lemony Snicket was actually full of shit (are you surprised? I know I am). I’m sure to some people this quote gives them the kick in the pants they need but then were they really waiting to be ready, or just making excuses and avoiding? Those are two very different outlooks, my friend.

My favorite thing about this quot is that it literally tells teenagers that it’s ok to have sex before they’re ready because if they don’t they’ll be virgins forever. Solid advice there Lemony and everyone on Pinterest and Facebook that have shared this quote.

Depending on the audience, that quote tells

Recovering alcoholics to get the fuck over it and hang around their friends who still drink regardless of the risk of relapse

Young adults to move out of their parents house before they can afford it and (potentially) go into severe debt

…there really are too many scenarios to list. I’m sure you can come up with some of your own.

So no, to me this is not a quote to share and hold as a core tenant of your being. You should be ready to do something before you do it.

Just because something is written in cursive writing does not make it wise.

7 thoughts on “I Call Bullshit”

I read it as stop making excuses and damn well do it. In my opinion its more about taking the plunge than the logistics of being ready. We are all guilty of waiting to feel 100% ready and putting things off.

I’ll give an example – my partner has been trying to reteach me to swim under water and progress to diving. I was great when I was a kid but somehow in the last 10 years I became scared. Although I had no problem swimming in lakes at night. Go figure. And I just couldn’t do it. I would prepare but couldn’t get myself to do it. I was too full of ‘what if?’. The we went on holiday and swam everyday and I eventually got annoyed enough at myself to do it. And it wasn’t that bad – I wasn’t awesome but I was doing it. The same problem came when I tried to dive again. My body would just freeze and I couldn’t do it. Again I just got annoyed enough at myself that I just did it. And it was all easy from there. Why had I waited so long to just get on with it? I was physically capable – it was my mind that was holding me back.

So I think this is valid. But its obviously not a manual on how to live your life! Just a reminder to check that it is not you who is holding you back!

I think the slow decline of teenagers into dumbness is partly because they are too wrapped in cotton wool. It is great that we, as a society, can provide children a safe place to grow up in where they never really have to want for anything.

Often parents don’t let them make mistakes themselves. I don’t blame them – people want to do the best by their children but they do have to learn to work things out for themselves.

Unfortunately, the older they get, the bigger the mistakes that their hormone raging brains can push them to make. I hope I make sense….

“My favorite thing about this quot is that it literally tells teenagers that it’s ok to have sex before they’re ready because if they don’t they’ll be virgins forever.”
Ehm, this quote reminds you of these things??
Sorry, don´t see it, not one bit.
It just tells people to be brave and try things and not to be a coward, like Mustardly wrote.
I honestly think that teens who read Lemony Snicket are pretty much safer than others who do not give a damn. 😉
There are thousands of things one could rather rightfully critisize than this quote—
I usually love your posts but this one really leaves me with a big uncomfortable questionmark…

That’s totally where my mind goes. I don’t see the bravery in doing something before you’re truly ready to. Don’t get me wrong, I believe a lot of people mistake not feeling ready for fear, in which case yes, they should just jump in. The value and efficacy of quotes like this depend very much on what situations they’re applied to. There are absolutely situations where you should take that leap of faith. I’m just saying there are other ways of interpreting this quote and that perhaps we should take a look at that before jumping on the bandwagon and building an altar on Pinterest to it.